Chile sees significant opportunities for organic growth

Organic fresh fruits – and in particular organic blueberries – were one of the key product categories highlighted by Chile at the Biofach and Fruit Logistica trade shows this month. According to Andrés Armstrong, executive of the Chilean Blueberry Committee, organic blueberry exports to Europe could grow over the coming seasons thanks to increasing interest from consumers, exporters and producers, as well as the recent signing of an agreement between the EU and Chile harmonising organic certifications.

This was one of the principal messages conveyed during the first participation of the Chilean Blueberry Committee – ASOEX, in conjunction with ProChile, as an exhibitor at the world’s premier trade show for organic products, Biofach 2018. The Committee’s participation at the event followed its presence at Fruit Logistica 2018 earlier in the month, which also served to highlight the growth of Chilean fresh fruit exports to Europe.
Charif Christian Carvajal, Marketing Director of ASOEX, said: “Biofach is the largest global exhibition for organic food, drinks and non-food products which takes place annually in Nuremberg, Germany. The Chilean Blueberry Committee, which exhibited at the Chilean pavilion organised by ProChile, used its participation to focus on the strong potential of Chilean organic blueberry exports in Europe.”Organic opportunities
Conventional Chilean blueberries have performed strongly in Europe over recent seasons and the Blueberry Committee believes there is significant potential for boosting sales of higher value categories, such as organics, in European markets.
“In terms of our export markets, Europe has been growing more than the average and is becoming increasingly important for Chilean blueberries,” said Andrés Armstrong. “Over 25% of our exports come to Europe and one of the markets where we see a lot of opportunities is organics. Organic certification has been growing in Chile and our growers and exporters see a lot of potential, especially as Chile and the European Union now have an agreement recognising Chilean organic certification. This is an important factor for further facilitating the export of organic blueberries to Europe.”Important showcase
Diego Torres, Director of ProChile in Germany, commented that both Biofach 2018 and Fruit Logistica 2018 had been important occasions for showcasing the country’s products in the German market itself. “The German market is an important and quite unique market,” he said. “Between 2016 and 2017, exports in terms of value of fresh fruits from Chile have grown by around 80%.
Additionally, Germany is an important direct consumer of organic fruits and this is why for the last two years and again this year, ProChile, together with exporting companies, has been present at Biofach, the international fair for organic foods.”